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Bangladesh information minister Hasan Mahmud to visit India next week
Hasan Mahmud will be the first senior Bangladeshi leader to visit India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Dhaka in March to participate in the neighbouring country’s National Day celebrations.
Bangladesh information minister Hasan Mahmud will visit India during September 5-8 for meetings with senior Indian officials and to boost cooperation between the two sides, people familiar with developments said on Wednesday.
Mahmud, who is also a senior leader of the ruling Awami League party, is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Anurag Thakur, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla, the people said on condition of anonymity.
He will be the first senior Bangladeshi leader to visit India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Dhaka in March to participate in the neighbouring country’s National Day celebrations. That was Modi’s first visit abroad since the Covid-19 pandemic began last year.
Mahmud’s visit will be an opportunity for the two sides to address strains in bilateral ties caused by India’s decision to halt the export of Covid-19 vaccines after the country was hit by a devastating second wave of infections in March-April.
The Bangladeshi side was upset as the decision affected the supply of 30 million doses of Covishield vaccine contracted for from the Serum Institute of India. In recent months, Bangladesh has finalised deals with China for millions of doses and domestic pharmaceutical firms are set to start manufacturing vaccines too.
Besides his official engagements, Mahmud will inaugurate a “Bangabandhu Media Centre” dedicated to Bangladesh’s father of the national, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at the Press Club of India in New Delhi. The Bangladeshi side has donated computers, other equipment and books for the centre.
The setting up of the centre is part of Bangladesh’s celebrations marking the birth centenary of Rahman, which began last year and were extended due to the pandemic. The Bangladeshi side has plans to create more such centres across India at universities and other institutions.
Acclaimed Indian director Shyam Benegal is currently working on a biopic of Rahman that is being jointly produced by the film development corporations of the two countries. Benegal has completed most of the film, titled Bangabandhu, and is preparing for a shooting schedule in Bangladesh.
During Modi’s visit in March, the two countries announced several initiatives to boost trade and connectivity, especially railway links that existed before the 1965 India-Pakistan war. Modi has repeatedly said Bangladesh has a special place in India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, and New Delhi is looking at the connectivity initiatives to help drive the development of the landlocked north-eastern states.
